Is this Japanese Knotweed in my garden?

Jo122

Hello gardeners,

Could I please call upon your expertise to help me identify if this is Japanese knotweed? It's just sprung up in our front garden...

Thank you in advance for your help and advice, 

Jo

Dovefromabove

That doesn't look like Japanese Knotweed to me.

Those look like the suckers from the roots of a tree - any large trees in the area?  Cherry, plum or possibly poplar?  Or have any been cut down recently?  

Dovefromabove

Jo, thanks for your message.  It sounds as if these are suckers from the trees that have been cut back

Some trees react to being cut back by behaving as if their lives are at risk and they need to procreate by any means possible as quickly as possible.  

I would treat the suckers with a brushwood killer.  If you don't want it to affect the parent trees then dig around the suckers first, severing the roots where they run back to the trees.  This may well turn out to be an annual job.